All Snug Read Free Page B

responsibility. I can’t just
    do the fun stuff. I feel like I owe something to all the gay men
    and women who paved the way, who gave us a world I could
    come out in, even if it took me forever to do so.”
    Damn, I thought. The little son of a bitch had a
    conscience too? Cute and moral? This whole thing was going
    in a direction I’d never intended. “Fine,” I said. “Then here is
    the challenge. I have a friend who owns horses. Eight in fact.
    B.G. Thomas

    Al Snug [20]

    So taking a cue from the Labors of Heracles, we are each
    going to take half the stables and clean them out. The one
    who is finished first, and does a better job of course, wins.”
    “I’ve never been in a horse stable in my life. I wouldn’t
    know where to begin.”
    “It doesn’t matter,” I said. “I don’t think I have that
    much of an advantage, and do you really think I’ve ever
    cleaned a stable? We’ll ask my buddy what to do, and he can
    be the judge.”
    “Your friend will be the judge?” Shawn asked.
    “Trust me,” I said. “Carter would love nothing more than
    to see me get horseshit on my hands. I’ll have no advantage
    there. He thinks I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth.
    Says I’m a snob.”
    “A guy with eight horses thinks you’re a snob?”
    I laughed. I was doing that a lot when I was around
    Shawn. “Maybe I was born with a few advantages, but I’ve
    worked for everything I have. Dear old Daddy wouldn’t give
    me a cent until I’d proven myself. Said no son of his was
    going to be lazy. He told me he would give his money to a cat
    shelter first.”
    “Whoa,” said Shawn. “Maybe I misjudged you as well.”
    Somehow his praise made me feel nice.
    “Okay,” he said. “Horse stables it is.”
    “I’ll even drive,” I offered. Then I called Carter and made
    the arrangements for later that afternoon.

    B.G. Thomas

    Al Snug [21]

    I PICKED Shawn up a few hours later in front of his
    apartment building, and the look on his face when he saw
    my car made me almost feel ashamed. Damn it, I’d worked
    hard to have my Lexus. Why should I be embarrassed?
    Because, my inner voice said, your car costs more than
    he’ll make in three years. It might cost more than his parents’
    house. I hated my inner voice. It had almost ruined several
    deals. On the other hand, it had kept me out of some pretty
    suspicious ones as well.
    Shawn didn’t say anything, though, and I wasn’t going
    to either. For some reason I’d gotten uncomfortable. Did he
    think I was trying to show off? Why did that even matter to
    me?
    “Music?” I asked trying to fill the silence.
    “Sure,” he said.
    “There’s a case in the glove compartment,” I said. “Pick
    out a CD.”
    A few minutes later we were both rocking to Lady Gaga.
    “I figured you were more of an Aida kind of guy,” he said.
    “Giuseppe Verdi or Tim Rice and Elton John?” I asked.
    “I didn’t know the guy’s name,” Shawn said. “But the
    first one is the one I was thinking.”
    “I have both,” I admitted. “But I bet you’ll find Sir
    Elton’s in that case.”
    Shawn was smiling that smile of his, and suddenly the
    mood was light again. “You are a constant surprise, Elliot.”
    B.G. Thomas

    Al Snug [22]

    “You too, Shawn,” I said. “Call me El,” I added and
    surprised myself again.
    “May I ask you something personal?” I asked.
    “You haven’t gotten permission before,” he replied.
    “How come it took you so long to come out? I mean, I’m
    getting the idea it hasn’t been more than, what…?”
    “A year,” he said with a sigh.
    “A year?” I tried to keep the shock out of my voice. “You
    came out at… thirty one? What were you doing all that time?
    I mean before you came out? Were you a priest or
    something?”
    Shawn shook his head and there was a sad look on his
    face. Shit. And things were going so well.
    “I was married,” he said.
    “Married?” And then I wondered why I was so surprised.
    Lots of gay